September 21, 2017 by Moshira El Balamony

The American University in Cairo AIAS chapter hosted their first student-organized exhibition earlier this year from February 5th-9th. The exhibition’s opening night welcomed over 200 guests to view the works of more than seventy of the school’s top students from across design studio levels.

A private viewing was arranged prior to the opening of the exhibition to welcome thirty of Egypt’s most prominent architectural and construction firms. At this event, they were given a tour through the gallery along with short presentations of three graduation projects by the students themselves. The event was followed by an awards ceremony in the gallery’s terrace to enjoy some live music and celebrate the nominated students. At the awards ceremony, they were handed their certificates by the AUC President, Francis J. Ricciardone alongside the Architecture Department Chairman, Dr. Ahmed Sherif.

Behind the scenes, the organizing committee led by Yasmine Sabek and Salma El Sherbiny faced many challenges due to the fact that the event was set to be during the first week of classes of the spring semester. The team had to work relentlessly throughout their winter break on all the logistics and preparations. In addition, the chapter’s president and vice president, Zeinab Nadeem and Moshira El Balamony, were at FORUM 2016 all the way in Boston which made crisis management from continents away an experience of its own.

Taking the decision to have the exhibition fully organized by chapter members, who have never curated such an event before, was quite a gamble! However, faith, resilience, and incredible teamwork was the major drive for it’s success.